CHAPTER IX
THE SPIES
"We're certainly going up!" yelled Ned, as he sat beside Tom in the
cabin of the air glider.
"That's right!" agreed the young inventor rather proudly, as he grasped
two levers, one of which steered the craft, the other being used to
shift the weights. "We're going up. I was pretty sure of that. The next
thing is to see if it will remain stationary in the air, and answer the
rudder."
"Bless my top knot!" cried Mr. Damon. "You don't mean to tell me you can
stand still in a gale of wind, Tom Swift."
"That's exactly what I do mean. You can't do it in an aeroplane, for
that depends on motion to keep itself up in the air. But the glider is
different. That's one of its specialties, remaining still, and that's
why it will be valuable if we ever get to Siberia. We can hover over a
certain spot in a gale of wind, and search about below with telescopes
for a sign of the lost platinum mine.
"How high are you going up?" demanded Ned, for the air glider was still
mounting upward on a slant. If you' ever scaled a flat piece of tin, or
a stone, you'll remember how it seems to slide up a hill of air, when it
was thrown at the right angle. It was just this way with the air
glider--it was mounting upward on a slant.
"I'm going up a couple of hundred feet at least," answered Tom, "and
higher if the gale-strata is there.
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